#WeAllServe Episode #54 with LTC (Ret) Oakland McCulloch
Oakland McCulloch was born in Loudon, Tennessee and raised in Kirkland, Illinois. After graduating from high school, he attend the United States Military Academy at West Point for two years. He then graduated from Northern Illinois University and received his commission as an Infantry Officer through the Reserve Officer Training Course in 1986. In his 23 year career in the Army Oak McCulloch held numerous leadership positions in the Infantry and Armor branches. He assisted in disaster relief operations for Hurricane HUGO in Charleston, South Carolina and Hurricane ANDREW in south Florida. His operational deployments include Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Iraq as a Generals Aide-de-Camp, the Congressional Liaison Officer in support of operations in Bosnia and the Operations Officer during a Peace Keeping deployment to Kosovo. He held instructor positions at the US Army Ordnance School, the US Army Command and General Staff College, the Australian Command and Staff College, University of South Alabama and Stetson University. His last position in the Army was a three-year tour as the Professor of Military Science at the University of South Alabama where he led the training and commissioning of Lieutenants and tripled the size of the program in his three-year tour. LTC McCulloch retired from the Army in September 2009 with over 23 years of active service and joined the staff at the Bay Area Food Bank as the Associate Director. He was also the Vice Chair for Military Affairs on the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Mobile Rotary International Club. LTC McCulloch left the food bank in December 2010 to become the Senior Military Science Instructor and recruiter for the Army ROTC program at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. In his 9 years at Stetson, the program grew from 15 Cadets to over 100 Cadets. In October 2013, he became the Recruiting Operations Officer for the Eagle Battalion Army ROTC program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he has more than doubled the size of the program in 6 years. Cadet Command selected LTC McCulloch as the top recruiting officer, out of 274 recruiters, for 2019. LTC Oak McCulloch published his first book in February 2021 – “Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be”. LTC McCulloch earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History from Northern Illinois University in 1987 and a Master of Military Arts and Science in History from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 2002. He received thirty-one military service awards including the Bronze Star, eight Meritorious Service Medals and the Humanitarian Service Medal. LTC Oak McCulloch is married to the former Kelly Smyth of Wauconda, Illinois. They were married at Fort Sheridan, Illinois in 1987 and they have two children, Oakland Vincent McCulloch and Caileigh Nicholson. They also have a granddaughter, Ryleigh Jade Nicholson and two grandsons Christopher Bryce Nicholson and Oakland Maverick McCulloch.
Podcast of “Get Down To Business” – 10/03/2021 – Robert Kohlhepp, Andrea Castle and Alix Greenberg
#WeAllServe Episode #52 with Juliana Mercer
Juliana Mercer is a Marine Corps veteran, serving honorably for 16 years. She was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan during her military career and spent five years providing holistic support to wounded, ill, and injured Marines recovering at the Wounded Warrior Battalion in San Diego. With over 20 years of experience working with and serving the veteran population, Juliana has a deep understanding of the veteran community’s needs and what it takes to support them through their transition from the military back to the civilian world. Since leaving active duty in 2011, Juliana has committed her career to supporting her veteran brothers and sisters through their successful transition into civilian life. Juliana serves on several nonprofit Veteran Service Organization BODs and founded a Public Benefit Corporation, Sabe, which aims to create meaningful change in the world through individual transformation and healing through psychedelic therapy. A portion of Sabe’s profits expands veteran access to wellness through veteran-nonprofits Heroic Hearts Project and the H.O.P.E Project. Their collective missions provide hope and healing to our nation’s veterans and military families. *Sabe is Spanish for “know” and an ode to Mexican healer Maria Sabina. Juliana found plant medicines in her quest to years of personal and military heal trauma. Having experienced their healing potential, she’s now an advocate. She has worked with CA congress members, senators, and legislators along the coast to get a yes vote on SB-519, recently testifying at the state capital in Sacramento. Her business cards would say “psychedelic concierge” if business cards were a thing 😉
Podcast of “Get Down To Business” – 09/26/2021 – Bryan Cressey, Justin Breen and Tom Miroballi
Podcast of “Get Down To Business with Shalom Klein” – 09/19/2021 – Tephanie Hopper, Marvin Storm and Roy Sharples
#WeAllServe Episode #51 with Peter Braxton
Peter Braxton is Managing Director, Akoya Capital, Investor Relations. Peter has been serving the financial needs for ultra-high net worth individuals and their families for more than 14 years, delivering holistic advice and creative solutions across the spectrum of private capital markets. Earlier in his career Peter was a US Air Force Instructor Pilot, with over 3000 Flight hours, including 1,000 Combat hours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Following his military service, Peter joined Credit Suisse, Chicago, as a Private Banker. From there he was the COO/Chief of Staff for DOM Capital Group, a single-family office and private investment group of the Dominick’s Grocery Store Family, and most recently worked with Envoi, a management owned private family office dedicated to servicing high net worth clients and Blue Marlin Partners, a Private Equity Firm. Peter is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Distinguished Graduate of Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, and holds an MBA from Washington University in St Louis. He currently serves on the board of the Tuskegee Next Foundation and is a private pilot in the Citation VII out of DuPage Airport, West Chicago, IL.
Podcast of “Get Down To Business” – 09/12/2021 – Susan Sykes, Brandon Wilson and Bryan Adams
#WeAllServe Episode #50 with Priya Sridhar
Priya Sridhar is an Emmy-award winning political reporter and host of “Politically Speaking”, a weekly political show that airs on Sundays on NBC 7. She comes to NBC San Diego from KPBS where she worked as a general assignment reporter and fill-in host for the station’s radio and television programs. Prior to San Diego, Priya worked as an investigative and general assignment reporter for the CBS affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to local news, Priya has worked as a White House correspondent and morning show co-host in New York City for Arise News, a 24 hour international news channel headquartered out of Nigeria. She has also worked as a Washington correspondent and anchor for RT and went on to work for that channel as a South Asia bureau chief and correspondent posted in New Delhi, India. She began her career at the NBC affiliates in Maine and has also worked at the Associated Press in Chicago. Priya received her undergraduate degree in International Relations and History from Bowdoin College and a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Some of the most impactful stories she’s covered in her career include the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri for the Associated Press and the historic 2015 presidential elections in Nigeria. Priya is originally from outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She is an officer in the United States Navy Reserve and fell in love with San Diego through her work in the Navy. She is the co-President of Asian American Journalists Association San Diego and on the board of directors for Military Veterans in Journalism.